Axis Holidays Guide by Axis Holidays agent (Axis Holiday) is designed specifically to help you plan customized tour to India that takes you to the most happening places of your interest. We bring you choicest Indian...

After breakfast drive to Thekkady. Arrive Thekkady in the noon and check into hotel. Afternoon free for own activities or Optional wildlife cruise at Periyar. The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is situated on the banks of the Periyar lake - an artificial lake, at Thekkady. Here the high ranges of the Western Ghats are clothed in dense evergreen, moist deciduous forests and savannah grass lands. Below this thick green canopy roam herds of elephants, sambars, tigers, gaurs, lion tailed macaques and Nilgiri langurs. ( Overnight at hotel)

Day 05: Thekkady to Kumarakom (130 Kms/ 4 Hrs)

After breakfast drive to Kumarakom. Arrive Kumarakom in the afternoon and check into the Resorts. Kumarakom is a cluster of little islands located on the banks of the famous Vembanad Lake. The Vembanad Lake displys an intricate and enchantingly beautiful web of majestic canals, streams and distributaries. The gorgeous green of the fringed palms beautifully contrast with the ripple in the blue waters. ( Overnight at Resort)

Day 06: House Boat Cruise at Kumarakom Backwaters

After breakfast check Out from Hotel/Resort and transfer to Boat Jetty and check into House boat. Enjoy the cruise in the backwaters of Kumarakom through paddy fields, coconut lagoons, narrow canals and coir villages Lunch & Dinner at House Boat (Overnight at House Boat)

Day 07: Kumarakom to Kovalam (190 Kms/5 Hrs) After breakfast check out from House Boat at Kumarakom Jetty. Here you will be picked up and drive to kovalam . Arrive Kovalam in the noon and check into the hotel. ( Rest of the day at leisure ( Overnight at hotel)

Day 08 : Kovalam

After breakfast the day is free to explore the area or to enjoy the clear beaches of Kovalam.( Overnight at hotel)

Day 09 : Excursion to Kanyakumari

After breakfast take a day Excursion to Kanyakumri. Kanyakumari is at the southernmost tip of India and its where three seas meet: the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian sea. Pilgrims come here to bathe in the sacred waters and to worship the goddess Devi Kanya, an incarnation of Shiva‘s wife, who conquered demons and secured freedom for the world. 400m off the coast, in a rocky island,

stands a memorial dedicated to Swami Vivekananda, who meditated here in 1892 before setting out to America to spread a message of social justice. After Visit back to Kovalam. (Overnight at hotel)

Day 01: Arrive ChennaiOn Arrival at Chennai Airport, you will be welcomed and transferred to hotel. Rest of the day at leisure or Own Activities ( Overnight at hotel)

Day 02: Chennai SightseeingAfter breakfast sightseeing tour of Chennai city visiting, Fort St George, which marks the beginning of (Chennai) Madras as an important center for trade. Within the fort is St Mary’s Church, the first English church in India and the oldest British building to survive. Our tour will also include the Little Mount where St Thomas is believed to have spent some time and Great Mount where he was martyred in 52 AD. We will spend sometime in the Mylapore Temple area visiting the 16th century Kapleeswarar Temple and the fruit and flower market. Of the museums perhaps the most unusual is the Development Center for Musical Instruments, which exhibits ancient and modern instruments, which you may touch and play. Some are curiously ornamental and some are modern experiments. Of special note are those reconstructed with the help of ancient literary texts and temple sculptures. In the evening you may opt to visit to the Marina Beach, the second longest beach in the world. Return to the hotel (overnight at hotel)

Day 03: Drive Chennai to Tirupathy(70 kms/ 02 hrs)

After breakfast drive to Tirupathy. Arrive Tirupathy and check into hotel. The "holy hill" of Tirumala in the extreme south of Andhra Pradesh is one the most important pilgrimage centres in India, and is claimed to be the busiest in the world - eclipsing Jerusalem, Rome and Mecca in its sheer number of pilgrims. Tirumala is an engrossing place where you can spend the whole day just wandering around. It‘s one of the few temples in India which allows non-hindus into the sanctum .Venkateshwara Temple - Pilgrims flock to Tirumala to visit the ancient temple of Venkateshwara, an avtar of Vishnu. This is the god whose pictures graces the reception areas of most lodges and restaurants in Southern India and garlanded in so many flowers that only his feet are visible. Among the powers attributed to Venkateshwara is the granting of any wish that is made in front of the idol at Tirumala; and so the millions come. There are never less than 5000 pilgrims here at any one time and, in single day, the total is often as high as 100,000. The temple staff alone number nearly 6000. (Overnight at a hotel)

Day 04: Drive Tirupathy to Chennai (70Kms/02hrs)After breakfast drive to Chennai and check into hotel. Later half day city tour of Chennai which includes visit of fort st. George, marina beach, parthasarathi temple, san thone cathedral (Overnight at hotel)

Day 05: Chennai – Excursion to Mahabalipuram & KanchipuramAfter breakfast take a full day excursion of Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram Kanchipuram - known as the Golden City of a Thousand Temples, is one of the oldest towns in India. It is famous for both its temples, many of them remarkably well preserved and for its hand-woven silks. Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities of India and it is the only one associated with both Shiva and Vishnu. Visit Ekambareshwar Temple, Kailashnath Temple, Kamakshi Temple, the Vaikunthaperumal Temple, all built in the 7th and 8th centuries. With a weaving tradition dating back to the Pallava era (when silk was the royal cloth), Kanchipuram is justly famous for its particularly fine silk saris, embellished with stunning patterns. Visit the local homes of the weavers and watch them create magic out of silk thread into saris.

Mahabalipuram - This is a small, quiet seaside resort with a unique 7th-century Shore Temple, a lovely beach and some of the most beautiful rock-cut temples in the world. Situated on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, Mahabalipuram was already a famous seaport in the 1st century AD. This town was a workshop for temple building. Visit the seven pagoda-style Shore temples, lashed by the waves of the sea and the seven rathas or temple chariots, a group of monolithic monuments & animal figures carved out of solid rock, the earliest known examples of Dravidian architecture. They were constructed in a single century-long burst of creative enthusiasm, starting in the reign of Narasimhavarman 1 (AD 630-68). End the visit by photography of the beautiful Shore temples at sunset. (Overnight at hotel)

Day 06: Drive Chennai to Pondicherry (165 Kms/ 04 Hrs)After breakfast at hotel drive to Pondcherry and check in to hotel. Later visit ashram (Overnight at hotel)

Day 07: Drive pondicherry to Trichi(200kms/04Hrs)After breakfast at hotel drive to Trichi and check in to hotel. Later visit the rock fort and sri ranganatha temple on srirangam island (Overnight at hotel)

Day 08: Drive Trichi to Madurai (130kms/02 Hrs) After breakfast at hotel drive to Madurai and check in to hotel. Madurai - It‘s one of the most pleasant Indian cities, and has a charming situation on the River Vaigai, fringed by lush paddy fields and coconut groves. Visit the Meenakshi temple one of the biggest temple complexes in India - 46 ft. long by 790 ft broad built in the 17th Century. It is a rectangular twin shrine - the southern temple dedicated to Meenakshi (the consort of Shiva) and the other to Shiva. It is Madurai‘s greatest landmark - a file city within a city. The complex includes a bazaar that bustles from dawn to nightfall. The high point of the Meenakshi temple is "Hall of a Thousand Pillars", built in the 16th C which is as great a work of structural engineering as it is of art. You will drive (walk is recommended ) through the fascinating bazaar that is bustling from dawn to nightfall. If time permits you may also visit the palace of Tirumala Nayak which is an example of the architectural mastery of the Nayaks - a blend of Hindu and Saracen architecture. It‘s enormous roofed arcade supported by 48 foot high stoned pillar still stands. (o/n at hotel)

Day 09: Madurai - Day Trip to Rameshwaram(165kms/03 Hrs)After breakfast proceed for a day trip to Rameshwaram. Evening drive back to Madurai and check in to hotel.

Rameshwaram is an island situated in the gulf of manner at the very tip of the Indian peninsula. A very important pilgrim centre of the Indians. Rameshwaram is the place from where Lord Rama, built a bridge across the sea to rescue his consort Sita, from her abductor, Ravana. This is also the place where Rama worshipped Lord Shiva to cleanse away the sin of killing Ravana. Both the Vaishnavites and Shaivites visit this pilgrimage which is known as the Varanasi the south. Rameshwaram is significant for the Hindus as a pilgrimage to Benaras is incomplete without a Pilgrimage to Rameshwaram. The presiding deity is the Linga Of Sri Ranganatha, which happens to be one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of India. Rameshwaram is also popularly referred to as the ‘Benaras of the south‘. In order to attain Moksha it is believed that the visit to Rameshwaram is mandatory. (Overnight at hotel)

Day 10: Drive Madurai to Kanyakumari (250Kms/05 Hrs)After breakfast at hotel drive to Kanyakumari and check into hotel. Rest of the day at leisure ( Overnight at hotel)

Day 11: KanyakumariAfter breakfast sightseeing of Kanyakumari is at the southernmost tip of India and its where three seas meet: the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian sea. Pilgrims come here to bathe in the sacred waters and to worship the goddess Devi Kanya, an incarnation of Shiva‘s wife, who conquered demons and secured freedom for the world. 400m off the coast, in a rocky island, stands a memorial dedicated to Swami Vivekananda, who meditated here in 1892 before setting out to America to spread a message of social justice. (Overnight at hotel)

Day 12: Depart Kanyakumari After breakfast check out from the hotel. On time you will be transferred to railway station or drop at Trivandrum airport for onward journey.